Page 77 of Kiss an Angel

“Go on. It won’t hurt. I promise.”

She moved reluctantly back over to the place where she’d been standing earlier.

He picked up the longest of his bullwhips and held the butt loosely in his hand. “You can go ahead and close your eyes.”

“I don’t think I want to.”

“Trust me on this, sweetheart. You definitely want your eyes closed.”

She did as he said, but her right eyelid began to twitch.

“Raise your arms above your head.”

“My arms?”

“Above your head. And cross your wrists.”

Her eyes sprang back open. “I think I forgot to tell Trey about Sinjun’s new feed.”

“Every Markov wife in history has done this trick.”

With a sense of inevitability, she raised her arms, crossed her wrists, and closed her eyes, telling herself all the while that nothing could be as bad as having him cut the tube from her mouth.

Crack!

The snap of the whip had barely registered in her brain before she felt the lash coil tightly around her wrists, securing them together.

This time her scream came all the way from her toes. She dropped her arms so quickly she felt a wrenching in her shoulders. In disbelief, she gaped at her bound wrists. “You hit me! You said you wouldn’t hit me, but you did.”

“Hold still, Daisy, and stop yelling. It didn’t hurt.”

“It didn’t?”

“No.”

She stared down at her wrists and realized he was right. “How—?”

“I cracked the whip before I let it touch you.” He flicked his wrist, taking the tension off the lash so that it loosened and she could slip free. “It’s an old trick, and the crowd loves it. But after I snare your wrists, you’ve got to smile at the audience so they know I didn’t hurt you. Otherwise, you’ll get me arrested.”

She rubbed one wrist and then the other. To her amazement, they were perfectly fine. “What if—what if you crack the whip after you catch my wrists?”

“I won’t.”

“You could make a mistake, Alex. You can’t always get every trick right.”

“Sure I can. I’ve been doing this for years, and I’ve never hurt an assistant yet.” He began collecting his whips, and she marveled at his perfect arrogance, even as it made her uneasy.

“Things went a little better this morning,” she said, “but I don’t see how I can go into the ring with you in two days. Jack said I’m supposed to be an untamed gypsy maiden, but I don’t think untamed gypsies scream like I do.”

“We’ll think of something.” To her surprise, he gave her a swift kiss on the end of her nose, began to walk away, stopped, and turned back. He looked at her for a long moment then returned, dropped his head, and settled his mouth over hers.

Her arms entwined his neck as he pressed against her. While her mind told her that sex should be sacred, her body craved his touch, and she couldn’t get enough of him.

When they finally drew apart, he looked down at her for a long, sweet moment and whispered, “You taste like sunshine.”

She smiled.

“I’m going to give you a few more days, sweetheart, because I know this is new to you, but that’s all.”

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